Getting Here and Around

The lovely coastal village of Queenscliff and nearby smaller sibling Point Lonsdale make for a worthy—and well-signposted—detour on the drive from Melbourne to the start of the Great Ocean Road.

It's about a 60- to 90-minute drive from Melbourne to Geelong via the Princes Freeway (M1), then to Queenscliff via the Bellarine Highway (B110). Trains run from Melbourne's Southern Cross Station to Geelong, where buses (Nos. 75 and 76) continue on to Queenscliff. The Queenscliff-Sorrento Ferry departs on the hour (in both directions) from 7 am to 6 pm and to 7 pm in the summer months. The journey takes 40 minutes and costs A$10 for pedestrians, A$69 for cars including two passengers in the high season.

It's easy to walk around Queenscliff's main attractions; ask at the visitor center in Hesse Street for maps. The Bellarine Railway, a narrow gauge tourist train, runs between the towns of Queenscliff and Drysdale (a distance of 10 mi) several times a week, while on Saturday nights, and occasional Friday nights, between August and May the hugely popular Blues Train mixes dinner and live blues entertainment; tickets are A$89.50 per person.